Cups of Tea
by R.G. Waffles
Summary: [Oneshot] Everyone gets surprises on their birthday. Sasuke? He gets a massive gut wound, a trip to the verge of his deathbed . . . and a cup of tea? . . . from Itachi.


**Disclaimer:** If I owned Naruto . . . Itachi would take Sasuke plushies hostage.

**Author's Note:** Once again, it is time for another birthday ficlet! This is unusually longer than my others and does not involve any bizarre presents . . . okay, maybe one! This plot was originally supposed to be longer than a one-shot, but I thought it was perfect for the time. Anyway, please read and review. I've worked hard to have it up by now (I stayed up until 3 in the morning to get it done) and I'd appreciate it.

**...:::Cups of Tea:::…**

By: R.G. Waffles

**Note: Slightly AU due to the fact that Sasuke never left before the 2 year time skip.**

**EDIT 9/18/09: Fixed a lot of format, grammar problems, added descriptions, etc.  
**

"He's losing too much blood!"

"Quickly! Get him to Emergency Room 7!"

"Ready an IV drip!"

"Prepare the bed!"

"Watch the heart monitor!"

". . . Naruto, are you playing with my dolls again?"

Oh how Naruto wished he heard that final sentence. He wanted it to ring through his ears, to echo in his mind, and to remember the time he, Shikamaru, and Chouji had been fooling around with Sakura's dolls when they were young, pretending to be doctors. He wanted it all to be fake. Unreal. Imagination.

It was too bad it was real.

That reality had come into play the second Uchiha Sasuke entered the hospital, bleeding from a savage wound to his gut and on the edge of his deathbed. Naruto watched with lidded eyelids as Sasuke was wheeled away, looking paler than usual, and giving off loud groans of agony whenever the gurney took too sharp of a turn. He followed the gurney with Kakashi and Sakura behind him.

----------

_"Naruto, watch out - !"_

_Naruto turned around, seeing a clawed hand hover over his face, ready to reach down and slice his head clean off of his neck. They had been in the same battle for twenty minutes against one of their fiercest enemies to encounter since Akatsuki._

_Naruto couldn't move. He couldn't get his mind to function properly. The only thing he could register was that every great hero had amazing last words. And it annoyed him to no end that the only last words he could think of were: _'Gee, I wonder if Ero-Sennin will come to my funeral'_ before he closed his eyes, preparing for the impact._

_But he didn't receive one. He never did. He heard the distinct sound of tearing cloth and flesh before opening his eyes, just in time to see a figure land heavily in front of him._

_And that figure happened to be a bleeding Uchiha._

_"Sasuke!"_

_The clank of metal sounded through the air as he looked up to see Kakashi fighting intensely with what was left of the enemy._

_"Sakura! Sakura, hurry!" screamed Naruto, searching for the pink-haired girl. He desperately tried to keep Sasuke's blood in with his own fingers. The boy was looking up at Naruto, and Naruto wasn't sure if Sasuke could really see him. His eyes were glazed._

_Sakura was soon kneeling besides him, pumping chakra into Sasuke's wound to try and get the blood to stop pouring out._

'Was it _supposed_ to pour out that fast?!'

_"Sakura!"_

_They whipped their heads around, staring at a winded Kakashi who had just finished defeating the last of their enemy. "Don't close the wound! It's poisoned!"_

_"Don't worry, sensei," she said, trying to keep calm. The blood kept pouring over her shaking fingers. "I'll take it out –"_

_"No, it's far too big of an injury. We have to get him back to Konoha immediately."_

----------

"Why?" Naruto moaned into his hands as he was seated besides Sasuke's bed. Tsunade had requested only Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi to be in the room. Sakura was fulfilling every order being barked at her from a very demanding Hokage.

Kakashi's attention shot up and he turned to Naruto when the boy uttered another moan of regret.

"Why did Sasuke have to save me? . . . We were supposed to celebrate. That mission was supposed to be a birthday present, and then we would surprise him with a party. . . . Why did it end up this way?"

"It's just the way life goes, Naruto," said Kakashi, closing his eyes so he wouldn't see Sasuke's mangled chest.

"Well life sucks!"

"You were bound to find out sooner or later."

Naruto certainly did not appreciate the joke.

When the blare of the heart monitor died down, as well as Sasuke's screams and Tsunade's orders, Tsunade wiped a sleeve across her brow before turning to Kakashi.

"Hatake," she snapped quietly. Kakashi most definitely did not like the tone of her voice. It meant something bad was going to happen. "This is a serious situation."

Naruto's head shot up and Sakura bit her finger out of nervousness.

"How serious?" Kakashi managed to croak out, suddenly feeling his throat go dry.

"He's lost blood . . . too much of it. At this rate, he only has a few hours left to live."

Jolting, Naruto stood up, his fists clenched and angry tears threatening to fall. "That can't be! There has to be something we can do!"

"Can't we just give him a blood donation? I could give him some of mine, I won't mind," said Kakashi, sticking his arm out for emphasis. "I'm type O."

"We can easily gather blood for a donation, but it can't be yours. I can only take so much." Tsunade sat down, running a hand through her disheveled hair. She stole a glance at Sasuke before continuing. "It's because of the Sharingan. Since it is a special BloodLine Limit, receiving too much foreign blood will result in severe damage to his eyesight, blinding him. I would need a vial of blood from a relative so that I can replicate the blood as much as I needed to prepare for a transfer. But . . ."

". . . There's only one other Uchiha left."

The insanity of the situation rang in the heavy silence that followed.

Naruto shook his head. It was impossible.

"Then take blood from Sasuke himself," he tried to reason. Anything, anything to help the situation. Anything to prevent them from losing hope.

"If we take the amount needed, that would put his life in greater danger. He would be dead by the time I prepared the other blood."

Silence.

"But we can risk the factor, can we not? His eyesight is less important than his life!" he still argued.

"We can," replied Tsunade. "But –"

Pounding was heard on the hospital's door before it was swung open, Lee tumbling inside. He was panting heavily as Neji, TenTen, and Gai followed behind.

"Tsunade-sama!" the spandex-bearing boy managed between his breathing. "We need an ANBU squad immediately!"

Tsunade could feel the vein popping in her head as she whipped around, seeing the team stare around the room. Before they could ask what happened, she interrupted. "And what would be the meaning for one?"

"Uchiha Itachi was located just on the outskirts of town, by the lake, only a few minutes away from here. He was without another and seemed to be resting," reported Neji.

Tsunade exchanged glances with Kakashi and the two of them smirked simultaneously despite the situaton. She stood up and walked to the team. "We are in a serious situation," she said. "Uchiha over here is dying of blood loss and I need a vial of blood from a relative. Naruto and Sakura will accompany you on a mission to hunt down Uchiha Itachi, retrieve a vial of blood, and report back here as quick as you can. For once, we will let him go. The younger Uchiha's life is at stake."

"But shouldn't Kakashi –"

"Kakashi will need to stay here, Sakura. In order to keep Sasuke alive for this ordeal, he will donate a small amount of blood every half hour. And no ANBU teams will be needed since this is not a retrieval mission. Gai's team is the most experienced, the fastest, and besides that, Neji is already a Jounin."

"This whole situation is such a coincidence . . ." Sakura whispered quietly.

Neji smirked upon hearing her.

"It's not a coincidence. It's fate."

----------

Drinking tea.

Naruto's eye twitched.

That was the way they found Uchiha Itachi. He was sitting beneath a tree in his usual Akatsuki disguise, cross-legged, and sipping a steaming cup of tea.

"Perhaps we should come back later," whispered Lee from where they were hiding. "We wouldn't want to interrupt his tea drinking."

Gai nodded sagely beside him. "There is nothing more important than tea."

Had they been anime characters shown on television or pirated on the internet, they would have grown a large sweat drop from an unknown sweat gland somewhere near the back of their heads.

"I'm not sitting around and waiting for that guy to carry on," growled Naruto, moving from where he was hiding. Sakura agreed, following suit. TenTen and Neji carried after, with Gai and Lee reluctantly behind.

Itachi stopped for a second, his ring finger twitching slightly out of annoyance. Looking up, he smirked . . . before sipping more tea.

Naruto was about to scream at him, cause a commotion, until he heard Itachi speak without raising his head.

"I'm hurt," he said with amusement lacing his velvety voice. "It pains me to think how Konoha would send such weaklings to capture me."

"We're not here to capture you, bastard!" yelled Naruto.

_'Why does he have to be so loud?' _thought Neji dryly, while Lee, who was beaming brightly beside him, thought, _'I admire Naruto-kun's fierce spirit of youth!'_

"We're here to – as much as this pains me to say – to ask you for a favor," said Sakura calmly from Naruto's side.

Itachi raised his face to look at them and raised a slender eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Your brother is dying of blood loss."

A flash of amusement passed Itachi's face. Naruto wanted to wipe the expression off of his face with a slap or two, but he refrained and continued, wanting Itachi to know the story. "We need the blood of another Uchiha so that Granny Tsunade can replicate his blood. So we're willing to fight to the death to retrieve it."

There was an audibly fake sigh from the Uchiha before Itachi placed his cup of tea down and stood up, brushing invisible dirt off of his cloak. "Fine," he said simply.

Lee's eyes brightened. "You're really going to give us the blood?"

Itachi scoffed, deeming the boy insane. "No, you fool," he said coolly. "I'm taking up the Jinchiruuki's offer. We'll fight to the death."

Gai thought over it, thinking it wouldn't exactly be the best idea. He turned to Neji, but before he could speak, Naruto lashed out.

"You heartless bastard!" he screamed. "You're his brother! You can't just give up a few simple droplets of blood to help him?!"

"I like my blood in my body, thank you," retorted Itachi, keeping his gaze indifferent.

Naruto gave a somewhat battle cry before suddenly lunging forward, kunai in hand, and ready to take on Uchiha Itachi himself. The battle had begun.

----------

Naruto couldn't believe the outcome. They had gone to save someone from the verge of their deathbed, only to have Lee and TenTen join him. TenTen was out cold due to Itachi's skill in the Mangekyou Sharingan, whereas Lee was bleeding profusely from taijutsu wounds. Neji nursed a wounded arm, Sakura was relocating a dislocated shoulder, Naruto was sporting a kunai slice across the face, and Gai was simply youthful.

Itachi hadn't broken a sweat.

Gai suddenly wanted to stop the mission, to retreat to safety, but he knew that since Lee and TenTen were not dying ("Yet . . ." he kept mumbling), the mission was still top priority. He watched Naruto stand up slowly, staring at the ground. His fists were clenching and unclenching.

"Why . . .?" he whispered darkly. Itachi watched him curiously. "Why don't you care?!"

His murderous eyes were enhanced with their transformation from once a placid blue to a ferocious red. Fangs showed themselves as he snarled inhumanly. "How can you? You left him alive and now you're letting him die?" he screamed, charging forward. He swung a punch, but Itachi simply ducked, bored with the ongoing.

"You're such a heartless bastard! You're brothers! No matter how much you hate each other, you're always going to _be_ brothers! And as brothers, you have to protect each other from harm!"

He tried to kick Itachi this time, only to have his leg grabbed, twisted, and his body sent flying into a nearby tree. But he bounced back swiftly.

"And now," he began, his voice sounding close to a snarl, "when he's dying and needs your help the most . . . you refuse. What kind of brother are you?!"

Itachi held his hand out, the palm facing Naruto, and for a second, Naruto thought that he was going to hit him. But instead, Itachi swiftly turned around and thrust his hand forward. There came a hacking cough before a dull thud was heard. Itachi smirked as he turned back to Naruto, stepping sideways to allow the blond to see who he had hit.

Neji was on his knees, his eyes staring blankly ahead of him, one hand clenched over his heart as the other supported his weight on the ground. He went into a coughing fit, releasing blood that spattered the ground.

"Neji!" screamed Sakura and Gai from their positions beside their fallen teammates.

They had thought Naruto was creating an excellent distraction, buying them time. Apparently, Neji had thought so as well, but Itachi had known about his sneak attack. It had backfired. That was all Naruto could think as Neji slowly slumped to the floor, unconscious.

"Naruto!" came Gai's booming voice. Naruto did not turn his crimson eyes upon the sensei, but listened anyway. "It's time for us to retreat! Lee, TenTen, and Neji will die if we don't send them to a hospital soon!"

Naruto's brain malfunctioned then and there. He had seen something that made his blood boil, the hairs on the back of his neck rising.

Itachi smirked – _smirked!_ – before walking away slowly, only to resume his previous seat beneath the tree. And then he picked up his tea . . . and _drank it!_

That was all Naruto needed.

"_Bastard!_"

He ran at full speed, chakra and adrenaline pumping through his veins and into his hand, every thought in his mind bent with murderous intent. He wanted to spill Itachi's blood all over the damned grass, watch it seep in and then laugh, just _laugh_ at Itachi's futile attempts to live . . .

. . . Only to be stopped by Gai, who placed him in a full body lock. Naruto could barely budge, feeling the older man's strength.

"Let me go!" he screamed, trying to struggle.

"Naruto . . ." breathed Sakura, feeling tears prick at her eyes.

Tears of anger began running down Naruto's face. "I'm going to kill you!" he screamed, flailing. "I'm going to kill you! He's dying and it's all your fault! Just because you didn't serve your job as an older brother!"

"Naruto!"

"Because you're a stupid, selfish, heartless bastard! I hate you! I _hate_ you!"

"_Naruto!"_

Naruto's mind snapped back to the unconscious, barely-breathing forms of his teammates. He had a decision. Lose his best friend - the one he had thought that he had finally gotten through to, the one that saved his life on innumerous occasions - or lose three fellow friends because of his stupidity.

He had no choice. He could not defeat Itachi alone.

The tears still falling, and without a last glance at the soon-to-be-only Uchiha, he picked up TenTen and followed the rest of the team out.

----------

The door of the Emergency Room swung open before Gai had the chance to kick it (seeing as his hands were occupied with Lee). Tsunade's face had looked hopeful – a look that made the guilt further rise in Naruto's heart – before she caught sight of the team.

"The mission . . ." she began, purposely trailing off.

". . . Was a failure."

Without another word, Tsunade ordered nurses to take the unconscious members for treatment before letting Gai, Sakura, and Naruto in. Naruto immediately walked to Sasuke's bed, seeing the Uchiha barely conscious.

"Sasuke," he said, tears of sadness replacing the trails of those of anger. "I'm so sorry."

Sasuke opened his eyes weakly. "Dobe?" he said wearily. "Is that you?"

"Yeah. . . . Happy Birthday."

Had it not been for the situation, Naruto would've chuckled at the irony.

"Happy Birthday indeed," replied Sasuke, still able to add the sarcasm in his voice.

Naruto's eyes trailed briefly to Kakashi, who was trying to keep himself awake. There was a bandage on his arm, explaining why his eyes were shifty and glazed. His head drooped from time-to-time, only to jolt back when he realized he was dozing off.

"It can't be a failure," said Tsunade with a hint of panic in her voice, beginning to pace around the room. Naruto saw Sasuke's heart monitor begin to beep after longer intervals. Tsunade walked over to her spare bookcase and pulled out medical book after medical book, dropping them to the floor, searching for any that would help her.

Sasuke's eyes closed and his heart monitor seemed like it was fading. Tsunade grabbed her hair in her hands, about to let out a scream of frustration, when there was a loud, single knock on the door.

"Enter," called Sakura quietly, her voice seemingly lost. When the door did not open, Sakura went to see who it was for herself. Everyone's eyes were on her.

Sakura opened the door, finding no one at all occupying the hallways. Her reaction to what she found was blocked out by the shrill scream of Sasuke's heart monitor. Tsunade was at his side in an instant, trying to steady it, as Kakashi prepared himself for another shot to retrieve blood.

"This is going to be it, Hatake," she said. "We can't give him any more blood. He's going to die on the next failure."

"Ts-Tsunade-sama," came Sakura's surprised voice. Everyone turned to her, Naruto's vision blurry from his tears. Sakura held a box forward, unable to say anything.

Peering inside, Naruto saw a small glass vial of a red liquid.

Blood?

Beside it was a small cup made of bamboo that Naruto squinted at, fervently wiping away tears to get a better view. He remembered the cup from somewhere.

When his memory came, he gasped. It was the same cup Itachi had been drinking from only moments ago.

Looking for some sort of explanation, he searched the small box further, finding a load of herbs used for making tea, and a small note in perfectly neat handwriting:

_Don't forget to drink the tea . . ._

_My birthday gift to you._

----------

Outside of the hospital, beneath the shade of a tree and completely disguised, Itachi wrapped a bandage around his arm.

_"What kind of brother are you?!"_

Itachi smirked.

. . . The kind that drinks tea in the exact same place, on the exact same day, every year . . . in celebration.


End file.
